Untreated wastewater flows into creek

    Washington city officials reported untreated wastewater was flowing out of two manholes southwest of the town Wednesday afternoon. They discovered the sewage flowing through a soybean field and into an unnamed tributary of Crooked Creek approximately one mile from the wastewater treatment plant.

    Greg Johnson, the assistant supervisor of the maintenance and construction department for the city, said the city learned of the problem at approximately 1 p.m. Wednesday. He said the overflow was caused by a blockage in a sewer line and that the blockage was successfully removed later that afternoon.

    ?We got the blockage opened Wednesday afternoon, so we?re spending this morning [Thursday] just cleaning the main.?

    Johnson said he did not think there would be any significant adverse consequences resulting from the release of wastewater. He said he would prepare a report of the event and hand it in to the Department of Natural Resources Thursday morning.

    Jim Sievers, the senior environmental specialist at the DNR field office in Washington, was on the scene Wednesday afternoon.

    ?I didn?t see any noticeable impact to the creek when I was out there,? said Sievers. ?As far as I know, there is no contamination of Crooked Creek.?

    Danny Martin, who works at the wastewater treatment plant, said the operations of his facility were not interrupted by the overflow. 

    City Administrator Dave Plyman remarked, ?Every time we have wastewater leakage, it?s important to locate the leak and stop it.?

For the full story, see the Nov. 5 edition of The Washington Evening Journal